Honorable Earl Rudder 

Chairman, Veterans’ Land Board 

Capitol Station 

Austin, Texas 

Dear Sir: 

Opinion No. S,-223 

Re: Eligibility of members of 

the Legislature to participate in the Veterans’ 

Land Program. 

In regard to your recent letter requesting an opinion from this 

office as to whether members of the Legislature are eligible to participate in the Veterans’ Land Program, you are respectfully advised as 

follows: 

Section 18 of Article III of the Constitution of Texas provides in 

part: 

” Nor shall any member of the Legislature be 

interested, either directly or indirectly in any contract with the State, or any county,thereof, authorized 

by any law passed during the term for which he shall 

have been elected.” 

Standing alone, Section 18 would possibly preclude a Legislator 

who was a member of the Legislature when any of the Veterans’ Lands 

Acts were passed from participating in the Veterans’ Land Program. 

However, subsequent to the ratification of Section 18, the Constitution 

was amended to create the Veterans’ Land Program, which amendment 

is contained in Section 49b of Article III and which provides in part: 

“The lands of the Veterans’ Land Fund shall be 

sold by the State to Texas Veterans of the present 

war or wars, commonly known as Storld War.:II, and 

to Texas Veterans of service in the armed forces of 

the United States of Amerka subsequent to 1945, as 

may be included within this program by legislative 

act, in such quantities, and on such terms, and at such 

prices and rates of interest, and under such rules and 

regulations as are now provided by law, or as may 

hereafter be provided by law.” 

Nothing in Section 49b excludes any class of veterans, whether 

they be Legislators or not, from purchasing lands under the program. 

It will be noted that the above quoted language from the constitutional 

amendment provides that lands will be sold to veterans of ‘tiorld gar 11 
. . 

Hon. Earl Rudder, page 2 (S-223) 

and to veterans “as may be included within this program by legislative 

act. * The Veterans’ Land Act, Article 5421m, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, 

as passed by the Legislature to implement the above constitutional amendment and as amended, defines the term “veteran” in the following language: 

“Sec. 14. The term ‘veteran’ as used in this 

Act, and the phrase ‘Texas veterans of the present 

war or wars, commonly known as World War II’, 

and the phrase ‘Texas veterans of service in the 

armed forces of the United States of America subsequent to 1945’, as used in Section 49-b of Article III 

of the Constitution, or as same may be amended, shall 

be synonymous and shall be construed for the purpose 

of this Act to mean any citizen of the United States, male 

or female, over eighteen (18) years of age, who served 

not less than ninety (90) days, unless sooner’ discharged 

because of a service-connected disabilkty, on active duty 

in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coa~st Guard or Marine 

Corps of the United States between September 16, 1940 

and March 31, 1955, and who upon the date of filing his 

or her application has not been dishonorably discharged 

from the branch of the service in which he or she served, 

and who at the time of his or her enlistment, induction, 

commission or drafting was a bona fide resident df this 

State, and who at the time of seeking the benefits of this 

Act is a bona fide resident of this State.” 

There is no provision in the Texas Veterans’ Land Act and its amendments which excludes any class of veterans from the above definition; 

and these weie laws of the Legislature that were passed under the mandate and direction of the constitutional amendment, Section 49b of 

Article III, passed by the people of Texas. 

Since the constitutional amendment setting up the Veterans’ 

Land Program and defining who may purchase lands under the Land Program, was the last expression of the will of the people, any provision of 

the Constitution which previously existed must, in case of conflict, yield 

to the subsequent amendment. See 9 Tex. Jur. 429, Amendments Sec. 20; 

State v. Brownsen, 94 Tex. 436, 61 S.W. 114 (1901); State v. Vinson, 217 

S.W. 40t 4 (Tex.Civ.App. 1919), affirmed 235 S.W. 1084 ( 1921); 

Gillespie’v.‘Eightfoot, 103 Tex. 359, 127 S.W. 799 (1910); Cramer v.Sheppard, 140 Tex. 271, 167 S.W.2d 147 (1943); and Farr~:ar v. Trustees of 

Employees Retirement System, 150 Tex. 572, 243 S.W.2d 688 (1951). Here, 

the people of Texas have willed in Section 49b that veterans, whether they 

be members of the Legislature or not, should be eligible to buy land under 

the Veterans’ Land Program. 
Hon. Earl Rudder, page 3 (S-223) 

SUMMARY 

Members of the Legislature are eligible to 

participate in the Veterans’ Land Program as set 

up by the constitutional amendment, Section 49b 

of Article III, and the legislative acts passed under 

Its direction -- and such eligibility is not affected 

by their being members of the Legislature at the 

time of the submission of the constitutional amendment to the people, at the time of the adoption of 

the amendment by the people, or at the time the 

legislative enactments were passed to implement 

the amendment. 

APPROVED: 

John Reeves 

Reviewer 

W. V. Geppert 

Reviewer 

Yours very truly, 

JOHN BEN SHEPPERD 

Attorney General 

Mary K. Wall 

Special Reviewer 

L. W. Gray 

Special Reviewer 

Davis Grant 

First Assistant 

John Ben Shepperd 

Attorney General